It is *checks non-existent watch* now three months into 2019, which means it's about that time again for another Half-Life 3 rumor. This one comes directly from Valve's Gabe Newell himself!

Well, maybe.

Honestly, it's probably fake but I know what pulls people in to the site and this is certainly going to do it for a little bit.

All of this begins with the latest video from "Valve News Network (VNN)," a YouTube channel that never, ever, ever (heavily implied sarcasm here) exaggerates or simply pulls things out of their ass. Get them clicks!...

Gordon Freeman Returns from the Dead in Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition

Square Enix announced today that a demo for the PC version of Final Fantasy XV is coming on February 26. This demo will include the entirety of Chapter 1 from the game and will be downloadable through Steam, Origin, and the Windows 10 Store.

Sure, fine, whatever. A demo? Great! But what's really important here is the fact that if you purchase the game through Stream from now until May 1, you will bring Gordon Freeman back from the dead. At the very least, you'll be wearing Gordon's well-preserved skin as an in-game costume for Noctis.

This is the Plot to Half-Life 3

January 8, 2016 is when we reported that Half-Life writer, Marc Laidlaw, parted ways from Valve. 18 years worth of writing for the company saw him pen some of the best games of our lifetime including the entirety of Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Dota 2, and Portal. It was sad, disappointing, and even a bit frustrating that he left before we ever got to experience his work in Half-Life 3.

It's weird to think about Half-Life 3. Fans have wanted it for years now, but Valve just doesn't seem capable of creating it. Perhaps they just don't want to at this point. Why would they? Steam and micro-transactions make them far more money than any single player narrative ever could, despite the hope that their fan base struggles to cling to. Episode 2 ended on one doozy of a cliff hanger and we wanted some sort of resolution to our experience.
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Gabe Newell Says Valve is Working on a New Single Player Game and Source 2

Valve's Gabe Newell had an AMA today in the quasi-satirical r/The_Gaben subreddit. During his brief session answering community questions, Newell revealed that Valve might actually still be a game developer.

Who knew?

Reddit user Baldemoto asked that which should not be asked to Newell. His response will shock you (assuming you missed the headline that you clicked on to read this news piece).

Is Valve still working on any fully-fledged single player games?An unidentified anonymous

Half-Life Writer Marc Laidlaw Departs from Valve

Marc Laidlaw, the man that helped to bring the entire Half-Life and Portal universes to life, has retired from Valve. The confirmation came after a Reddit user in the Half-Life subreddit decided to contact Laidlaw about just what was going on with Half-Life 3.

Laidlaw said that he has retired, a decision that comes after 18 years with Valve. His writing credits include the original Half-Life, all of Half-Life 2 including the episodes, Left 4 Dead, Dota 2, and Portal. Laidlaw has also written a number of books and short stories over the years.
Laidlaw says that there were a number of reasons in his decision to retire, most of which he says are...

Lambda Symbol Possibly Revealed in Apparent Valve Winter Sale ARG

Valve might have hidden a bunch of secret clues in this latest Winter Sale of theirs. To make a super long story short, a bunch of people have been finding clues in backgrounds, web pages, and more during this latest Steam Winter Sale for 2015.

In fact, they have gone so far as to unlock a special badge (seen below), which you can earn yourself (at least at the time of this posting). All you need to do is open up this Steam store link in Chrome, type in (without clicking anything ahead of time) the word "search", hit "enter" on your keyboard, and then input the password of "1v7531" into the new dialogue box that pops up. There you go, you have the Red Herring badge now.
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